AFGHANISTAN 2014 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Afghanistan is an Islamic republic with a strong, directly elected presidency, a bicameral legislative branch, and a judicial branch. Presidential and provincial elections occurred on April 5, with a second presidential runoff-round held on June 14. Reports of fraud marred the elections and led to an audit of all ballot boxes. Protracted political negotiations between the presidential candidates resulted in the creation of a national unity government. On September 21, the independent election commission named Ashraf Ghani the president-elect and Abdullah Abdullah the runner-up in the runoff election. In accordance with a political agreement signed by both candidates, Abdullah took the newly created post of chief executive officer, and Ghani and Abdullah formed a national unity government. Parliamentary elections were last held in 2010 and were marred by high levels of fraud and violence according to national observers, the Office of Security and Cooperation in Europe, and other international election-monitoring organizations. Authorities generally maintained control over the security forces, although there were instances in which security forces acted independently. The most significant human rights problems were widespread violence, predominantly indiscriminate attacks on civilians, and armed insurgent groups’ killings of persons affiliated with the government; torture and abuse of detainees; and targeted violence of and endemic societal discrimination against women and girls. Other human rights problems included extrajudicial killings by security forces; ineffective government investigations of abuses and torture by local security forces; poor prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention, including of women accused of so-called moral crimes; prolonged pretrial detention; judicial corruption and ineffectiveness; violations of privacy rights; restrictions on freedom of speech and press; restrictions on freedom of religion; limits on freedom of movement; pervasive governmental corruption; underage and forced marriages; abuse of children, including sexual abuse; trafficking in persons; discrimination against persons with disabilities; discrimination and abuses against ethnic minorities; societal discrimination based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and HIV/AIDS status; abuse of worker rights, including forced labor and child labor; and sex and labor trafficking. AFGHANISTAN 2 Widespread disregard for the rule of law and official impunity for those who committed human rights abuses were serious problems. The government did not prosecute abuses by officials consistently or effectively. The Taliban and other insurgents continued to kill civilians and security force personnel using indiscriminate tactics such as improvised explosive devices (IEDs), car bombs, suicide attacks, rocket attacks, and armed attacks. The Taliban used children as suicide bombers. Antigovernment elements also threatened, robbed, and attacked villagers, foreigners, civil servants, and medical and nongovernmental organization (NGO) workers. Authorities did not investigate or prosecute most of these abuses. Section 1. Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from: a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life There were credible reports the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings. For example, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported in January a group of Afghan Local Police (ALP) members beat a shopkeeper to death in Ghazni Province because they suspected him of selling food to the Taliban. The ALP is a government-sponsored and vetted community-based self-defense force operating in various parts of the country. NGOs, UNAMA, and the media continued to allege Kandahar provincial chief of police Abdul Raziq facilitated extrajudicial killings. In August, Raziq told the media he had ordered his forces to execute militants on the spot, rather than take them prisoner. While Raziq later retracted his comments, Kunduz Provincial Chief of Police Mustafa Moseni and Baghlan Provincial Chief of Police Aminullah Amarkhel, among others, echoed his statements. There were reports of extrajudicial killings reportedly committed in subdistricts 2, 6, and 8 in Kandahar City. There were also reports of extrajudicial killings by the ALP and the Afghan National Police (ANP) in the Arghandab District of Kandahar Province. Impunity for security force abuses remained a problem. There were numerous reports of politically motivated killings, overwhelmingly by the Taliban and other insurgent groups. According to UNAMA, civilian casualties rose by 20 percent through November, compared with the same period in 2013. There were 33 percent more child casualties and 14 percent more female casualties through November, compared with the same period in 2013. The total number of civilian casualties through November was 9,617, consisting of 3,188 civilian Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2014 United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor AFGHANISTAN 3 deaths and 6,429 injuries. UNAMA attributed 12 percent of civilian casualties through November to progovernment forces, mostly as a result of ground engagements between progovernment forces and antigovernment elements, and 75 percent of all civilian casualties to antigovernment elements. In its midyear report, UNAMA reported a 10 percent decrease in civilian casualties resulting from targeted killings, 428 compared with 474 for the same period in 2013. Ninety-five percent (405) of civilian casualties resulting from targeted killings through July – 247 deaths and 158 injured – were attributed to antigovernment elements. These included killings of tribal elders, civilian government officials, mullahs, and civilian justice officials. On January 17, a Taliban suicide bomber and two gunmen attacked a popular Lebanese restaurant in Kabul, killing 21 persons. On March 20, four Taliban operatives opened fire on foreign and Afghan guests dining at the Kabul Serena Hotel for Persian New Year. The attackers killed nine persons, including two children, before the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) shot and killed them. The victims of this execution-style killing included an American, two Canadians, and a French journalist, his wife, and two children. On July 15, a suicide attack on a crowded market killed 89 persons and injured at least 40 others in the Orgun District of Paktika Province; no group claimed responsibility for the attack. On November 23, a suicide bomber at a volleyball match in Paktika Province killed 45 civilians and injured 50 others; no group claimed credit for the attack. On December 11, the Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide attack that killed a German and a French national and injured 20 Afghans at a cultural show at the Esteqlal High School in Kabul. In May the Taliban announced a spring offensive targeting foreign forces and civilians in the government and judiciary. The Taliban launched rocket attacks against the Kabul airport in July; attacked the provincial Ministry of Justice office in Jalalabad, killing five civilians and two police officers on May 12; and assaulted police checkpoints in Ghazni, killing two civilians and one police officer on the same day. There were reports of summary justice by the Taliban and other antigovernment elements, including cases resulting in extrajudicial executions. In June, Taliban Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2014 United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor AFGHANISTAN 4 members cut off the index fingers of 11 citizens as punishment for voting in the presidential elections. b. Disappearance There continued to be reports of disappearances attributed to security forces, particularly in Kandahar Province. There were reports of forced disappearances associated with the ANP in subdistrict 8 of Kandahar City and linked to the ANP in Arghandab District. There were reports insurgent groups were responsible for disappearances and abductions (see section 1.g.). For example, on March 30 insurgents kidnapped a Provincial Council candidate and nine of his companions in Sar-e-Pul Province. Police later discovered the victims’ bodies in the Baghawi area of the province. c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Although the constitution prohibits such practices, there were widespread reports government officials, security forces, detention center authorities, and police committed abuses. NGOs reported security forces continued to use excessive force, including torturing and beating civilians. UNAMA reported the ANSF, including the ALP, and progovernment armed groups committed acts of excessive force, including torture. For example, in April in Faryab Province a group of 200 men from a progovernment armed group, allegedly accompanied by 20 to 25 ANP members in ANP vehicles, captured, tortured, and killed a highway patrol officer and hung his body from an ANP armored vehicle. The men then fired at houses as they drove through local villages. In May the New York Times reported the death of 23-year-old plumber Hazrat Ali, whom ANP members allegedly tortured and killed while he was in custody in Kandahar. Police in Kandahar did not permit the father of Hazrat Ali to see his son. A few days later, Ali’s father tried to visit his son again and learned his son was dead. Ali’s father reported his son’s body showed signs of torture, including signs